Kingdom Come Deliverance From The Ashes for Xbox/PC review: Engaging and rewarding

Kingdom Come: Deliverance's first major DLC, From The Ashes, sees you rebuilding the fallen town of Pribyslavitz. Using money, management and patience, you can turn the rubble of the forgotten land into a thriving mini-city. The process isn't quick, but it is enjoyable and you get some great payoff for your investments.

From ruin to prosperity

From The Ashes begins when you travel to the city of Talmberg. The lord of the land, Sir Divish, will name you the bailiff in exchange for the help you lent him during the game's main story. But before you can start rebuilding Pribyslavitz, you need to cleanse the land of bandits first. There's a fair amount of combat in the introductory section of From The Ashes, so having your blade and armor at the ready is important.

Once you do this, the real meat of the expansion becomes accessible: constructing Pribyslavitz from the ground up. Everything from a church to produce shops to armorsmiths are structures and services that you can create, but workers, guards, and buildings all cost money — and quite a lot of it.

The high monetary costs are what drive the long-term experience with From The Ashes. As you travel Bohemia and build your wealth, you can set aside funding for Pribyslavitz. 100 coins here, 500 coins there. It's a game of saving, building up a small fortune over time in order to use as an investment. It's slow, but it gives the player something to work towards...and it isn't without rewards.

Sticking with the renovations and will eventually pay you your money back, and then some. If you put in the effort, you can turn Pribyslavitz into a profitable location that can help fund the cost of buying and maintaining late game items. What I found myself relishing in, though, was the fact that I had turned a land of despair into one of growth and opportunity. That pride is priceless.

Not without faults

Overall, this expansion is great, but it does have some problems. For one, it's disappointing that despite all of the hard work the player needs to put into the town, you don't get to own a house in it. There were already very few options for permanent living in Kingdom Come prior to From The Ashes, and this was a missed opportunity.

Another thing that's unfortunate is that there's no real reason to go back to Pribyslavitz after the fact. It offers goods and services, but they are all things you can obtain in the rest of the game's towns or cities. I would have liked to see something unique to Pribyslavitz only.

Final thoughts on KCD: From the Ashes for Xbox/PC

While there's not much in Pribyslavitz that's worth returning to, rebuilding it and reaping the monetary benefits is a great experience.

Pros:

Excellent long-term gameplay.

Very rewarding.

Satisfying to see through.

Cons:

No player house.

Lack of unique items.

4out of 5

From The Ashes is available for $9.99 on both Xbox One and Steam. The base game is available for $49.99.

Brendan Lowry

Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer with a burning passion for video games, of which he's been an avid fan since childhood. He's relatively new to the writing scene, but he counters that lack of experience with a rock-solid work ethic and a desire to improve at every opportunity. You'll find him doing reviews, editorials, and general coverage on everything Xbox and PC. Follow him on Twitter.